Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/363

 10 s. VIL APRIL 13, loo:.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

To a single play now recoverable must be con- fined what are called the dramatic writings of Nicholas Udall, the scandalous author of ' Ralph Roister Doister.' This also which appears to have been written in Udall's regenerate period, and is void of any form of offence is a work of highest importance in dramatic history. In Mr. Farmer's very useful ' Note-Book and Word-List ' a defence of Udall against the graver charges he incurred is suggested.

Containing six deeply interesting plays, the last of the three volumes is also the latest in order of appearance. Of the curious works comprised, all are scarce, ' Youth ' being perhaps the most familiar. The text of ' Jacob and Esau is taken from the British Mxiseum copy of the edition of 1568, with modernization, under customary conditions, of spelling and punctuation. It follows pretty closely the Biblical account, and has a noteworthy cha- racter in Abra, a little wench, servant to Rebecca, whose name at least was copied by Prior. There is also a fragment, of six leaves only, of a chronicle play of political and satirical intent, one of the earliest works of its class, forming part of the famous Devonshire collection. Of ' Misogonus,' which forms part of the same collection, it may be noted that it is in existence in the original in MS. only, and is, though substantial, but a fragment. Its appearance in its present shape is one of the greatest boons conferred by the series. The other works included in the present volume are an ' Interlude of Godly Queen Hester ' and ' Tom Tiler and his Wife,' the latter described rightfully as "a passing merry interlude." Reduced fac- similes of title-pages, colophons, and the like accompany the present as previous volumes. Philo- logically, as in other respects, the Note-Book forms one of the great attractions of the work, though the meaning of some of the strange words en- countered is necessarily not seldom conjectural.

Thomas Stanley: his Original Lyric*. Edited by

L. I. Guiney. (Hull, J. R. Tutin.) THOSE whose memory goes back some years may recall the difficulty of procuring editions of the lesser lights of poetry. It is hard for the modern reader to realize this paucity of books, for he has been spoilt by a multitude of editions, and workers like Mr. Bullen and Mr. Tutin have made accessible to him in pleasant form verses which are a real addition to our English treasury of wi t and poetry. Mr. Tutin is indefatigable as a publisher, and con- templates at an early date the production of "a limited edition of Stanley's Verse Translations, complete, from every known source." This is an interesting arid most laudable scheme, which we hope will come to early fruition. The present volume, by the by, contains 'A Sheaf of Transla- tions ' as. well as the 'Original Lyrics.' Stanley rendered writers so different as Ronsard and Plato the epigrammatist. The references to the original sources of these versions in the ' Notes ' are too vague to be of any value. Generally, however, Miss Guiney is a good editor, as befits one who takes a special interest in the lyrics of the seven- teenth century. She writes in an affected style which is not to us a commendation. For instance, this reprint in the editor's preface is described as "a deferent attempt to set forth Thomas Stanley as a little latter-day classic, in his old rich singing- coat, made strong and whole by means of coloured strands of his own weaving." The plain state-

ments that the spelling has been modernized, and"

the punctuation well looked after, are more pleasing, more effective to us than the elaborate piece of

and

stylishness just quoted. This preface, in fact, is irritating. It is unnecessary to depreciate the present age in order to laud the seventeenth cen- tury. Stanley is said to derive his chief mental qualities from his mother, "following the almost unbroken law of the heredity of genius." The present reviewer happens to have paid some atten- tion to the difficult subject of inherited genius,. and he cannot endorse this often-repeated state- ment concerning genius from the mother. The theory has not reached the security of a "law";: and certainly it is not an "almost unbroken law." Did not Tennyson, for instance, derive his gifts. from his father? and was Dickens's mother re- sponsible for all his talent? The point is, perhaps, hardly worth labouring, but we think writers of "appreciations" in such editions as this might with advantage keep clear of the attractive game of generalization, and stick to fact. Later in this ' Prefatory Note ' we read, " No Carolian poet was- ever an idler!" We think that Miss Guiney some- what exaggerates the merits of Stanley, who is not equal enough in his execution to rank with Carew or Herrick. He is not a "classic" in the generally received sense of the word. But we are glad to have this careful edition, with its notes con- cerning the text; it is available in two forms in buckram, and in cloth. The printing is good, and the frontispiece is a reproduction of Lely's portrait of Stanley in the National Portrait Gallery. Lastly, Mr. Tutin has compiled a list of editions of Stanley.

Golden Anthologies. Poems of Marriage. Edited

by Percival Vivian. (Routledge & Sons.) THE pieces here included fall under two heads bridal songs or epithalamies, and songs of married love. The name of the editor is new to us, but it is clear from his preface that he has both taste and judgment, a conclusion fortified by the perusal of the volume. He has been fortunate in securing four poems by Coventry Patnwre,. four from Chris- tina Rossetti, and two from D. G. Rossetti, who- suffered at the hands of the spiteful for his ex- quisite mingling of the spiritual and the physical. We are pleased to see the whole of Jonson's. 'Masque of Hymen.'

Tennyson's 'St. Agnes' Eve' represents a re- ligious application of the marriage bond, and there are some poems of regret for lost wives, including Milton's stately sonnet to his " late espoused saint (in which "Alcestes" appears we suppose, by a misprint), and a touching poem by Barnes. We do not know on what grounds Cowper's poem to Mrs, Unwin, ' My Mary,' is introduced.. The ordinary reader would suppose from its presence here that he was addressing his wife. We think it would have been well to secure something from the- ' Poems ' of W. E. Henley. Mr. Vivian has ob- tained 'A Faery Song' from that true poet Mr. W. B. Yeats; but we presume that the exigencies of copyright have prevented the appearance of some excellent examples by other living poets which occur to us.

This series of anthologies-' is now growing apace, but there still remains an opening for a posy of heroisms. Perhaps, however, the brave deeds often performed by men and women obscure to the world have not been svGffieientiy celebrated by poets to.